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800 VS 850 Motor - The Truth!

MDEVO

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I had a very sorted and great running 16 Axys 800 and this year I bought a 19 850 Axys<div><br></div><div>I didn't realize just how well the 850 ran until I jumped on my old 800</div><div>Where the power of the 800 would flatten out, the 850 will just pull and pull HARD. After break in of the 850 it is a very impressive motor. The 800 might have a slight advantage at initial spool up but it all over after that! </div><div>Very impressed with the 850. Only adds are a SLP cooker can so far</div>

I had an 18 axys and now i got a 19 850... the 850 stock to stock walked all over my old 800... the only thing the 800 had was a bit more bottom end snap... after that the 850 is pretty much better in every way... i have the re-flash and that made a huge diffrence to the 850... it was a bit doggy before... and real fat on the bottom but the flash was much better... also the failures on here with the 850 are bigtime overhyped if u ask me... i havent even went through a set of plugs on mine

I have watched all three 850’s I ride with change plugs at least once Every time I have rode with them. Sometimes twice! Absolutely ridiculous!
I do think that elevation is the factor for us...as most happy owners ride above 5k feet
I’m hoping they get it right this year???
 

G-Force

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I have watched all three 850’s I ride with change plugs at least once Every time I have rode with them. Sometimes twice! Absolutely ridiculous!
I do think that elevation is the factor for us...as most happy owners ride above 5k feet
I’m hoping they get it right this year&#55357;&#56911;&#55357;&#56911;&#55357;&#56911;

Seems to be a luck of the draw type deal. I've got 12 hours/400 +/- on mine, and it's started first or second pull each time. Had a mid-range stumble once, other than that, flawless. No skid marks of black, unburned fuel in the snow etc.
All stock, save for MDS weights loaded at 71g(stock is 68) and at 5000' I'm seeing 84-8500.. tossing some wight at it tomorrow to 73.8g and see what that does...
Oh should mention, I was so worried about the "fouling plugs" issue, I have 4 new NGK still in the box.. never been opened, give your buddies a deal, seems I won't be needing them lol...
 
S
Dec 28, 2018
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Washington
I have watched all three 850’s I ride with change plugs at least once Every time I have rode with them. Sometimes twice! Absolutely ridiculous!
I do think that elevation is the factor for us...as most happy owners ride above 5k feet
I’m hoping they get it right this year???

I ride between 2 and 7k feet... ive got 1000kms on mine... ask ur buds if they have the flash done.. maby thats why or tell them to start rideing the thing... youll foul any 2 stroke if you just dog around the bottom end lol
 

indydan

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800 or 850 ?

The 800 has had years and years of tweaking..... and it has proved to be a great HP to weight ratio motor.

Really the 800 motor from 2008 thru 2019 are all great motors....if all updated equally will run great for many years to come and they will stay competitive.

Where the 850 really shines from the start is the updated electrical system.

And the motor mounting system of the 850 when tweaked correctly will really shine.

If the 800 had the same electrical system and motors mounts it would be a hard motor to beat.

The big problem both the 2015 and newer axys 800 motors and the 850 share is they both need uodated drive clutches that are heavier.

The clutches are to lite......in relation to crankshaft weight.

The future of the 850 will be a bright one indeed.

IMO you can’t really go wrong with either motor.

I hope Polaris keeps the 800 available for many years to come. ( just give it a few updates )

As for the 850...... I would scoop up any 2019 850 you can find before I would order a 2020.

Indy Specialty will be offering a detailed DIY ( Do it yourself ) motor update instruction PDF on our website this spring.

It will give detailed step by step instructions how to update the 2019 850 motor to be mechanically better then the 2020 850 motor



Dan
 
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indydan

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We will be able to hone our own cylinders, and machine our own cases to accept a locator ring bearing? :juggle:

All updates will be showed in pictures and measurements given...and we will do a video.

Most machine shops should be able to do these with ease.

Th only procedure that will have to be sent out will be the cylinder honing.

Dan
 

GreenState

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This season I've been switching back and forth between 800's and 850's, NA and boosted.

The boosted 850 I've been running, Boondocker with intercooler on 100LL, is sweet. The throttle response is amazing for a boosted sled and it has more power everywhere than the equivocal 800. I do have an occasional bog, but it seems to be better after the reflash and I haven't done the Colorado head yet (summer project). On Boondocker boost, I really like the 850.

The NA 800 and 850 are both clutched and geared down with Diamond S cans. The 850 makes more power, but not that much more and it lacks the snap on the bottom that the 800 has. (Going from a '15 800 to a '16 800HO was a much bigger jump in performance/power.)

No one has really touched on this, but the NA 800 is noticeably easier to ride. The 850 is not as "flickable" as the 800.

The jury is still out, but there's a good chance the NA 850 is getting replaced with a leftover '19 800 with a stage 4 kit next season.
 

MDEVO

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I ride between 2 and 7k feet... ive got 1000kms on mine... ask ur buds if they have the flash done.. maby thats why or tell them to start rideing the thing... youll foul any 2 stroke if you just dog around the bottom end lol

Flash done on all three... and they are much better after the flash, but still turds in comparison to the 800. IMHO
Hard to do wide open pulls in the east coast tight trees....lol!

My 800 doesn’t bog or fall flat anytime....
Those 850’s only seem to run ok on trail at higher RPM.

Damn, I so wanted to snowcheck one.....guess I’ll get an 800 and wait for the new chassis in 21 or 22, maybe then the turd 850 will be ready???
 

Matte Murder

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I ride between 2 and 7k feet... ive got 1000kms on mine... ask ur buds if they have the flash done.. maby thats why or tell them to start rideing the thing... youll foul any 2 stroke if you just dog around the bottom end lol

No actually you don’t. I’ve never fouled a plug in 9yrs of riding. I’m not a flipper to the bar guy at all either. Only seen a few over the years and those were rare and in Pro 800s.
This is a legit problem seen by many people, even the die hard Poo guys who ride them HARD.
 
S
Dec 28, 2018
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No actually you don’t. I’ve never fouled a plug in 9yrs of riding. I’m not a flipper to the bar guy at all either. Only seen a few over the years and those were rare and in Pro 800s.
This is a legit problem seen by many people, even the die hard Poo guys who ride them HARD.

I find that hard to believe 9 years and not a single plug fouled... but ok... every sled fouls plugs it comes with the 2 stroke nature of the beast, not just pro's.... and on the flip side at least they are easy to change and come with a wrench on the sled.... i had an eteck and what a pita that is to change them... espessially with no tools with the sled or spare plug holders...
 

ullose272

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I find that hard to believe 9 years and not a single plug fouled... but ok... every sled fouls plugs it comes with the 2 stroke nature of the beast, not just pro's.... and on the flip side at least they are easy to change and come with a wrench on the sled.... i had an eteck and what a pita that is to change them... espessially with no tools with the sled or spare plug holders...
Ive never fouled a plug on a fuel injected sled, thats been in the last 9 seasons, '10 cat '14 pro '16 axys. Only ones ive fouled were on my first sled about 11 years ago. 02 edge that never ran righr

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
 

summ8rmk

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2006 was probably the last time i changed a set of plugs. only 12,000 miles ago...

tapatio...
 
S
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Truth be told last one ive done was in my eteck but wow.... that was only 3 seasons ago... since than ive been on pros... that have been new.. before i jumped ship i was changeing plugs on my xp and xm like 2-3 times a year
 

bobback

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It's great that Indy Dan is posting a vid on his website for a do it yourself fix for the 850...but I am a pull and go guy or set it and forget it.

So probably will slum it on my AXYS for another season or 2, being I only have 1,000 miles on it and done for season due to weather. And I only ride 400 to 600 miles tops a season. But my axys seems to run strong for all stock, well, has a can.
 

MDEVO

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All updates will be showed in pictures and measurements given...and we will do a video.

Most machine shops should be able to do these with ease.

Th only procedure that will have to be sent out will be the cylinder honing.

Dan

Love your input Dan, and we’re lucky to have professionals like yourself provide options for repair, knowledge and diagnosis in times of need.
However, I don’t think it’s too much to ask after spending 15K on a new sled for it to run properly with reasonable reliability.
I am too cheap/poor to send my brand new sled engine out to get corrected, or want to tear it apart before I ride it, unless it is simple bolt on performance mods.
Since that Factory 800 is pretty darn good now, I guess Ill wait until Polaris takes your advice and makes the corrections to the 8 ****ty in factory....
 

Chadly

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I find that hard to believe 9 years and not a single plug fouled... but ok... every sled fouls plugs it comes with the 2 stroke nature of the beast, not just pro's.... and on the flip side at least they are easy to change and come with a wrench on the sled.... i had an eteck and what a pita that is to change them... espessially with no tools with the sled or spare plug holders...

Matte is definitely telling the truth. If he had ever fouled a plug, we would have heard about him dying out in the woods because he would have no clue how to change it :face-icon-small-con
 

Solarguy

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850 AXYS now has 1,083 mountain miles with lots of very deep days and has and is running perfect, my 800 AXYS cannot stay with this sled in deep steep pulls. Carl,s clutching works awesome over stock and slp cooker can.
I haven’t fouled a plug in the last 8 years either and I’m retired and ride a lot.
Really happy with the 850!
 
S
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Matte is definitely telling the truth. If he had ever fouled a plug, we would have heard about him dying out in the woods because he would have no clue how to change it :face-icon-small-con

Man that is funny:face-icon-small-hap don’t know ya matte but that made me laugh
 

Matte Murder

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What’s even funnier is Chadly has even less mechanical ability than me! Although he did help me get un-stuck the other day and I’ve NEVER seen him do that before.
 
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